Thursday, November 08, 2007

Huckabee's Homefront Troubles

National observers watching Mike Huckabee's rise might assume that he has the Arkansas Republican Primary all wrapped up. He doesn't. The Huckabee campaign is having some trouble on the homefront, and it is getting embarrassing for him.

First, a U of A poll showed he and Rudy tied with 8% of the vote statewide, while Hillary! pulled in 35%. All of those are well-known names in the state without significant room for growth in support. Then, in an effort to counter efforts from conservatives in his own state (who are telling everyone who will listen that Huckabee is not a conservative and left the state party in a shambles), the Huckabee campaign issued a list of "prominent Republicans in Arkansas who Support Mike Huckabee".

The list had less than half the current sitting Republican legislators on it. True it had the names of the three former Republican federal legislators on it, but it was very telling that the guys from the state ledge, who actually had to work with Huckabee, are so reluctant to get on board.

Worse, the list seems padded with no-names and people who have not really endorsed Huckabee. Senator Shawn Womack (the list mistakenly listed him as "Shane". Ouch) said he was running for a judicial position and could not endorse anyone. Former Rep. Sarah Agee works for Mike Bebee now, and has asked that her name be removed from the list. Another fellow that was a state Rep. was listed as a Senator. Some held no political office at all, such as the widow of former Lt. Governor Winn Rockefeller.

The list was a response to the fact that many people were starting to notice that Huckabee did not have a lot of endorsements among the key group "Republican state legislators that served during his administration". So he releases this list, but the list was weak and filled with errors.

Competitor Fred Thompson, when asked about Huckabee, said he was a "pro-life liberal". In fairness, he is a fairly pro-life, and pro-marriage liberal, but the point is that Thompson got that message by listening to what conservatives in this state are saying. The word is getting out and Mike Huckabee will increasingly have to deal with it. His main advantage- most of the rest of them have their own problems.

Anony,Don't you think that you are painting with a little too broad of a brush there?It's one thing if you don't support a candidate, that's fine, but there are several on that list that I know personally & even more that are well known by friends and I can tell you they don't deserve that kind of demonization.